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He continues to create, is David Hockney. Now in his late eighties, and more than 60 years into a career which has propelled him to the pinnacle of the contemporary art pile, the artist remains active with his brush, constantly exploring, persistently inventing, and still having shows.

A Glimpse into the Exhibition

This art presentation – the first in a swish ultra-central London location for his long-term gallery, which has represented him for decades – is filled with artworks that feel freshly completed. The opening room is all eye-searingly bright still lifes: furniture, produce, and floral arrangements. It’s the most old-fashioned and staid of subject matter, Hockney’s approach is never boring, right?

His Van Gogh-y wicker chairs are neon yellow and luminous purple; his floors present bold contrasts with red, yellow, and orange forms; his fruit is all primary and basic and childlike. Throughout, he toys with what he calls “reverse perspective”, an attempt to replicate how we actually see the world, not the static view of life found in photos and traditional art. Thus, everything appears unstable and distorted. The legs of his chairs spread out, his tablecloths warp. I don’t think it’s any closer to “real” perspective compared to conventional techniques, yet the dizzying, uneasy sensation it produces is fun. Photos of gardens are pasted into some of the compositions – little glimpses of a somewhat dull English reality that just make the rest of each work feel brighter and sunnier.

Nothing he does is ever dull … Delphiniums on My Garden Table, a recent creation.

Changes in Artistic Technique

What is unmistakable is how much shakier these brush marks are compared to earlier works. Classic Hockney is so assured, so in command of his paintbrush, but these new works are almost shockingly unsteady. The brush marks are full of quivers and tremors, the lines are irregular and scattered, bits of white underpainting poke out everywhere. They’re almost a mess, but still immediately, uniquely and recognisably him. It makes for quite an emotional, affecting experience – we observe a legendary artist aging through his art. Compare all this with the very early works featured in a separate exhibition earlier this year and it evokes the sense of a career’s beginning and end, and I’m not sure I’m ready to handle that level of morbidity, truly.

Figurative Works: Critical Views

The portraits are where this show fails the hardest though. Hockney’s approach to skin tone has edged more towards pointillism in recent times resulting in figures that appear afflicted with blemishes. All the figures here are splotchy, flushed and marked, dabbed with pink and red hues except for poor John Kasmin who seems to have gone a bit mouldy and gangrenous. The depictions resemble lifeless forms than living beings with heartbeats and vitality. A three-panel mirror portrait is a good idea, but he just looks like a bloke awkwardly waiting for his wife in a mundane setting. Only the self-portrait here showing Hockney painting in a wheelchair really works, and that’s because it’s so vulnerable, but also so funnily self-aware.

Serene and minimalist … 8th April 2020, No. 2.

Experiments with Technology

Upstairs, the artist persists with his digital creations featuring lunar artworks; all dark and moody, large radiant spheres suspended over darkened scenery. They feel quiet, austere, maybe a little sad. Criticisms of his digital art are unfounded – people complain about the lack of texture and brush marks and humanity and yadda yadda yadda, yet in my view, they are impressive – an artist bending new technology to his will, showing that whatever the medium, he still maintains all the hallmarks of his aesthetic.

The Question of Prolificacy

However, do we really need yet another Hockney exhibition? There have been more than 10 shows of his work in London recently, not to mention the giant retrospective at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris earlier this year, and this is not the final display. The Serpentine is doing a big one in 2026, too. I admire Hockney, but even I think enough might just be enough.

Nevertheless, we ought to appreciate him while possible. In this exhibition, with all these new works with their imperfections, wit, and vibrancy, he demonstrates his ongoing dedication, and he’s still got it, decades into his career.